R5 Freezing after 1.8.1 Firmware upgrade

[John421]

My R5 has been freezing up after the most recent firmware update, 1.8.1. Did I do something wrong, or is this been an issue with the Firmware update? If it's a known bug, I would rather not have to spend the $499 repair costs to send it in. Will the next update possibly address this? 

Purchased in Jan 2021. Using RF 100-500 lens. 

[Nicholsandco]

Yes please DM me here once you hear back and or get it resolved. If you check the other forum link I made in my post tonight to the other thread - several people said they mailed their body to Canon, paid for the repair and when they got it back it still froze up. Others said a canon couldn’t get it to repeat the error and so they couldn’t fix it. One stated that’s what Canon told them then she turned it on and with in 5 min of using it, it locked up. 🤦🏼‍♂️ 

That’s why I’m not super excited about mailing off the camera to Canon and paying for a repair.

reverting to an older firmware is more palatable to me at this point!

[John421]

UPDATE: Sent to Canon, and they couldn't find anything wrong. An 18-point inspection was performed for $170  and sent back. I was offered a complimentary shipping label to return the camera if the problem happened again. Hopefully, the next firmware update will fix it, or getting a new battery and card might help. Not sure sending the camera to Canon will help with this intermittent freezing issue. Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions. 

[Anonymous]

I would downgrade the firmware to 1.7.1. This seems to apply to the R5 camera as well as the R6 from my research on my responses to Nicholsandco and his R6 problems after a firmware update to 1.8.1. If you download the 1.7.1 firmware from Canon and use the EOS Utility program connecting the camera to your computer, you should be able to load the older firmware to the camera. This is based on other posts I have seen as I don't own either the R5 or R6 cameras. There is a risk of failure and the need to send it to Canon for repair, but others have been successful in downgrading the firmware, and overcoming the problems with FW version 1.8.1

[John421]

UPDATE: Sent to Canon, and they couldn't find anything wrong. An 18-point inspection was performed for $170  and sent back. I was offered a complimentary shipping label to return the camera if the problem happened again. Hopefully, the next firmware update will fix it, or getting a new battery and card might help. Not sure sending the camera to Canon will help with this intermittent freezing issue. Thanks for everyone's input and suggestions. 

[Nicholsandco]

Have you had a chance to shoot with your camera since the repair / inspection? I’ll be updating the firmware tomorrow to the newest 1.8.2 the most recent update. I’m hoping that’s the fix Canon needed, if that doesn’t work I’ll try to downgrade to 1.7.?

[John421]

I did shoot briefly and didn't have any freezing issues. I have the R5, so hopefully, a new version will come out soon.

[TomRoss]

I have an R5 purchased less than 3 months ago - I'm using RF lenses, Canon OEM battery etc., I am on Firmware 1.9 but I am getting the freezing problem.  Seems to be fairly random & if I pop the battery door open and close it again the problem goes away, sometimes for one shot, sometimes for several.  I'm going to try the "radical reset" as suggested in the DPReview Forum (https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/65874710) but I find it astonishing that on a high-end, so-called "professional" camera Canon has not managed to fix this bug that seems to have been plaguing the R5 pretty much since it came out.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

What is a "Radical Reset"?  If by that you mean resetting the camera's main and custom functions, this is not radical.  This is a standard recommendation when seemingly unexpected behavior is observed.  

The OP has not posted to this thread for 6 months.  We have no confirmation if his issue was or is resolved.  Another user with a completely different body posted and appeared to imply his firmware (same version #) might somehow be related.  Its not, the firmware's are similar but in no way identical, interchangeable, etc.  The bodies are different.

In order to receive help, its best to start your own topic.  Its should include the specifics about the problem or issue you are experiencing, the lenses, gear or accessories you are using and if possible any steps to reproduce the behavior.  During fact gathering, we may ask questions for clarification.  This fact gathering is not an assumption you are using non OEM / 3rd party accessories or gear, its simply for us to ensure we've asked the right questions or ruled out things which might be known to have compatibility issues.  

Since you are running v1.9.0, a firmware that has been out for months now and is stable, the reset would be one of the steps I'd perform since you are using OEM accessories and RF glass.  The type and brand of CFb and SD cards might also cause this type of behavior and would be worth investigating.  You didn't say what you had or are using, or if you had tried other cards, etc. Again however, your own thread will ensure your issue gets the attention it deserves. 

[TomRoss]

Thank you for the interesting response & I understand that my frustration might rub a Canon VIP the wrong way, but allow me to explain where I am coming from:

I have been using various Canon digital cameras for the last 10 to 15 years & Canon has always been my preferred brand (I had an F1 and a T90 when I shot film). I have an R6 & very recently bought the R5.  This is the first time I have had any type of firmware problem & it is with the newest & most expensive camera.  From this thread it is apparent that this is not a new issue & it is one that has repeated through multiple iterations of firmware.  I can’t help wondering if your encouragement to “start a new thread” is truly a desire to get me the right help (you were on it quite quickly I observe) or would a new thread create separation of the issue and make it seem like my problem is an isolated fluke and not part of a continuing pattern with a Canon flagship?

As to taking issue with my use of the phrase “radical reset” you can interpret it how you like, but for me any reset that loses all of my custom settings and sends me down a time-consuming rabbit hole of setting them all up again is not something I regard as a minor inconvenience - I thought long and hard about whether to just tolerate a glitching camera & missing shots or bite the bullet and reset.

As for accessories, my CF-B is a Sabrent CF-XTBT-512 1700 & the SD is a SanDisk Extreme PRO v30 XC1 512.  I haven’t tried other cards but these were rated highly by R5 users (among many others) & are mainstream manufacturers, so I would find it hard to believe this would be the cause.

So I have tried a solution and,not incidentally, one from another forum (noting the string of comments here that so far have not identified a reliable solution).  I will post here again if I believe it to have worked.

[Tronhard]

Tom, the reason we ask people not to piggy back on others' threads is because the same symptom may be indicative of different issues. By having your own thread you we can get specific without getting confused with the situations of others.  If you think that Chinese Whispers is confusing, try dealing with multiple people doing the equivalent of talking at the same time and each saying something that might seem similar but often different.  We get people with the same issue chatting with each other and with multiple people trying to get details from each of them and getting roundly confused.
With all due respect, please don't descent into conspiracy theories about why we ask people to do this.  Quite frankly, when I get folks piggy backing I give up trying to help them - it's utterly confusing and frustrating!  I doubt you would turn up at the ER and when you heard someone else going through triage would butt in and join the conversation, just because your symptoms had similarities.
Canon will monitor all threads and will group them together for data gathering purposes.  Each voice is heard, but you get lost in the chorus if you join in with the masses.